SPACE WIRE
Fujitsu in talks with Sun, but no decision yet on joint server business
TOKYO (AFP) Oct 23, 2003
Japan's top computer maker Fujitsu said Thursday it was in talks with US hi-tech giant Sun Microsystems over business tie-ups but no decision had been made on integrating high-performance server operations.

The company was responding to a report in The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, which said Thursday the two firms had reached a basic agreement to unify designs for Unix mainframe servers in 2004 and consolidate production of high-performance servers at Fujitsu Ltd.

The alliance would give them a share of more than 40 percent of the global Unix server market, much more than either Hewlett-Packard or IBM, the economic daily said.

Fujitsu said in a statement that it "has enjoyed a close partnership with Sun Microsystems" throughout the years.

"The two companies have had a number of discussions about the benefits of working together to deliver the best solutions to our customers," it said.

"At the present time, however, nothing has been decided with respect to expanding the scope of our current relationship with Sun."

Fujitsu and Sun have already joined hands in Unix server business, including the use of Sun microchips in the Japanese firm's Unix PRIMEPOWER series.

Shares in Fujitsu fell 33 yen, or 4.78 percent, to 657 yen as Japanese shares overall continued to slide, with the Tokyo Stock Exchange's Nikkei-225 index losing 374.31 points, or 3.44 percent, to end the early session at

SPACE.WIRE